LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President George W. Bush should not
have exempted the Navy from obeying laws intended to protect
endangered whales and other marine mammals by curbing the use
of sonar off the California coast, a federal judge ruled on
Monday.

In the latest twist of a long-running battle between
environmentalists and the Navy, U.S. District Judge
Florence-Marie Cooper rejected the argument that the Navy was
exempt from federal environmental law because of what it said
was an urgent need to properly train its sailors to detect
quiet submarines.

The district court on January 3 barred the Navy's use of
powerful submarine-hunting mid-frequency active radar within 12
miles

of the coast, protecting a strip of water that is habitat
for whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.

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The court also imposed other restrictions, including a
stipulation that the Navy switch off sonar if marine mammals
are spotted within 2,200 yards of sonar vessels.

But Bush intervened, citing the national security necessity
of last month's Navy training off the California coast, and
exempted the Navy from the environmental laws at the heart of
the legal challenge.

Environmental groups led by the Natural Resources Defense
Council (NRDC) have documented cases of mass whale strandings
and deaths they say are associated with sonar blasts that also
sometimes cause bleeding from the eyes and ears.

While Cooper expressed "significant concerns" about the
constitutionality of Bush's exemption, she avoided ruling on
it. But she said the previous injunction remained in place.

"By leaving the injunction in place, the Navy may continue
with its training exercises while limiting negative effects on
marine life," she wrote.